


Owl in the Box

by Tiofrean



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Fluff, Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Owls, Rick has issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 21:34:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7138130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiofrean/pseuds/Tiofrean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During one of his hunting trips, Daryl finds himself a new pet. It's not his fault the creature doesn't really like Rick...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Owl in the Box

**Author's Note:**

> The inspiration, the muse and the beta was, as always, the one and only MermaidSheenaz (she was the one who inspired the "I can't" part, by the way) so all my thanks go to Her! <3 
> 
> And this goes to Owls! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Daryl huffed and groaned for what felt like a hundredth time, the heavy buck slowing his already crawling pace. _Just a mile_ , he reminded himself, _just a mile and you’ll be back at prison. Don’t pussy out now, damnit._ But no matter how he tried to clench his teeth through the steady burn of his muscles, he couldn’t really fight it anymore, and so he decided to stop for a short break.

Scanning his surroundings warily, he let the deer plop to the ground, sitting on a trunk of a fallen tree and pulling out his cigarettes. The pack was almost empty and he cursed, picking one and lighting it. He listened with satisfaction as the tobacco hissed when he inhaled, taking a long and slow drag.

And then Daryl froze, a soft sound alerting his senses and making his whole body still. He listened intently, eyes darting around to try and pinpoint the source, and… there. Another barely-audible… _chirp?_

Daryl frowned, moving from his spot and gently taking a hold of his crossbow. He made his way to a small bush growing just about a yard from him, gently parting the branches with one hand, aiming the crossbow with the other. What he discovered made him pause and lower his weapon, though, his whole being suddenly focused on _staring_ at the little creature at his feet.

An owl, so small and with enough downy feathers to be called an owlet, really, but it still loosely resembled an adult bird. Well, loosely… In Daryl’s opinion it was fucking ugly, but it was small and all alone, and its wing looked as if it was broken, going by the way it flopped uselessly at its side…

The hunter huffed out a quiet laugh when it tried to attack his hand as he attempted to grab it.

“Fuck, don’t bite you lil’ fucker” Daryl growled, but smirked nevertheless, as he finally managed to wrap the little angry thing up in his red hanky and carefully placed it inside his backpack. They didn’t need any more meat, not with the buck he’d been sweating his ass over for the past three hours, but he knew he would feel bad if he just left that little ball of feathers out there. Grinning at an indignant chirp coming out of his backpack when he threw it on his shoulders again, Daryl grabbed one of the deer’s legs and started his slow trip once again.

 

__________

 

“What the hell is that?” Rick greeted him a few hours later from the door to Daryl’s cell. Daryl used to avoid this place, preferring to sleep on the perch, but recently he started to appreciate the privacy the cell provided… as much privacy as one could think of while living in a prison, anyway.

Daryl’s head jerked up and he glanced at Rick, fresh out of shower after his shift in the guard tower.  
“What’s it look like to ya?” Rick rolled his eyes at the gruff tone and stepped in, bending over a small cardboard box in which Daryl had previously placed the bird. He made a very thoughtful expression as he examined the creature with a frown.  
“Oh I don’t know… a chicken from hell?” The leader asked with a grin and Daryl barked out a laugh.

“Damn right, that’s exactly what it is” he set the box aside. He’d been trying to immobilize the injured wing for the better half of the previous hour, but the stubborn bird keep trying to eat his fingers, so he had just given up, glaring at it until Rick had shown up.  
“Where on earth did you find it?” The leader seemed seriously intrigued, but Daryl could see the amusement flickering in his eyes, too.  
“A late Christmas gift from Santa, Rick” they laughed, looking down at the owlet when it made an offended chirping noise, prompting them to laugh even harder.

“Gonna keep it?” Rick asked when they managed to catch their breaths. Daryl nodded thoughtfully.  
“She’s a fighter, I can tell. A nice addition to our group” he looked at Rick, who was smirking down at the bird,  
“Yeah? _She?_ ”  
“‘Course. Look at them big eyes, made to lure boys in” Daryl smirked, too. That small, hellishly noisy bird really had beautiful, huge eyes.

“Alright then” Rick concluded with an air of fake seriousness. Daryl watched him, trying to suppress his snickering, when the leader bent down over the box and peered inside, staring at the owl.  
“How many walkers have you killed, young lady?”

Daryl couldn’t help the quiet laughter that escaped him.

 

__________

 

Days went by and the newest member of their group settled in. The owl still lived in Daryl’s cell, but now, as it had finally stopped trying to assault everyone with its beak, it was given a freedom to roam all over the space under Daryl’s bunk. It had also gotten a name - Lady - and Rick found it oddly amusing that Daryl would call Judith ‘Lil’ Asskicker’ but the bird from hell was apparently an aristocratic woman.

And boy, what a hellish bird it was… The owl grew even more evil the bigger it got. Evil towards Rick, that is, for it didn’t attack any other members of their prison family. They could pet it and scratch its head and ruffle the feathers all they wanted, but as soon as Rick got into its close proximity, the owl would screech to high heaven and start to flop around or try to bite him. Rick had given up after some time, approaching it only with Daryl nearby. Well… he tried to approach _Daryl_ , and since that fluffy ball of anger was practically attached to him whenever he was inside the prison, Rick had no other choice but to man up occasionally and face the creature.

It was on one of those days when Rick walked into Daryl’s cell, the archer perched on his bed and the owl nowhere to be seen. Rick stopped momentarily to take in Daryl’s absolutely gorgeous profile, before he stepped bravely inside, all the time looking around nervously to make sure the bird from hell wouldn’t attack him unexpectedly. He didn’t want to be here, where the creature could attack him every moment. Hell, he _wouldn’t_ be here at all, if it hadn’t been for his new-found romantic relationship with Daryl. It had all started a few days after Daryl brought Lady in, the then-funny little animal serving as a nice excuse for Rick to spend the evenings near Daryl. It had quickly turned into tentative kisses and wandering hands, and after a few hot, making-out sessions somewhere in the prison hallways, they had both decided it had been a high time to do something about it.

And so, Rick found himself in Daryl’s cell the next evening, looking around suspiciously to check whether the hellish owl wasn’t planning on assassinating him. After a few steps with nothing flying at his legs or arms, he breathed out in relief, eyes flicking back to the hunter.

Daryl was smiling. No, scratch that, he was _grinning_. A positively devilish grin stretching his lips wider than anything Rick had seen up to date.  
“Looking fer somethin’?” Daryl drawled and just as Rick was about to open his mouth, a movement caught his eye. He followed it with his gaze and froze. There, perched on Daryl’s shoulder, mostly hidden behind his messy bangs was _Lady_. Rick swallowed, looking from the bird that seemed to glare daggers at him to Daryl, who was still grinning at him.

“Can ya… can ya put it down? Somewhere?” _Preferably away from this prison,_ Rick thought nervously, pleading Daryl with his eyes to _do something_. The archer laughed, shoulders shaking and jolting the owl, which gave a very undignified chirp and re-adjusted its position.

“Ya scared of my lil’ friend, Rick?” Daryl huffed out between snorts, but reached over his shoulder nonetheless and gingerly took the owl. She didn’t fight him, still too busy sending murderous glares in Rick’s direction, and the sheriff instinctively took a step back when Daryl placed her on the floor to roam freely.

“Come on, then, big boy” Daryl smirked, climbing higher on the bed, making space for Rick to join him. Rick sighed and, doing a completely idiotic dance around the owl, climbed into the bed after Daryl.

 

__________

 

“ _Daryl…_ ” the whisper that left Rick was so quiet he could barely hear it. Quiet and panicked. Daryl frowned, opening his eyes and looking at the man hovering over him.  
“Wha?” He rasped out, not really getting why Rick would freeze completely _now_ , when he had three fingers up Daryl’s ass and was practically vibrating with lust a moment before.  
“ _Daryl_.” Even more urgency to Rick’s tone, his beautiful eyes focused on something above Daryl’s head. Daryl groaned and arched his back, tilting his head in search for the cause of Rick’s abrupt halt.

Lady. Of course it was Lady, perched above his head on one of the cot’s railings, looking at Rick intently as if daring him to make one wrong move. Daryl rolled his eyes and looked back at Rick, the man’s expression somewhere between discomfort and mild panic.  
“Ignore her, Rick” Daryl huffed out, attempting to kiss his sheriff, but Rick pulled back, gaze shifting between the bird and his lover.  
“I can’t… Daryl, please…” he looked almost miserable and Daryl halfheartedly waved his hand at the owl, trying to shoo it away. The only thing that his action caused was Lady jumping over his hand, flopping in the air for a moment and reinstalling itself on the railing. Rick groaned and hid his face in Daryl’s neck.

“Dare… I can stand the general lack of privacy here” he mumbled into Daryl’s neck, hot air puffing over his skin making Daryl shiver pleasantly. “But this is just too much… I can’t do it if she’s lookin’ at me… _I can’t_ ” Rick pulled away and focused his gaze on Daryl’s collarbone.  
“How’dya mean you _can’t_?” Daryl asked with a smirk that disappeared as soon as his hand sneaked its way to Rick’s groin. “ _Oh…_ ” Daryl trailed off and tried to look at Rick, but the man turned his face to the side. He looked so miserable that Daryl felt a pang somewhere deep inside his guts.

With an irritated huff Daryl grabbed the owl, gently so he wouldn’t hurt her, and groped with his other hand under the bed blindly until he took out a cardboard box. He flipped it over and sent its contents scattering around the floor, before he flipped it upside-down and placed the owl underneath it. He didn’t want to hurt the creature, and he knew she would be safe there until they were done.

Rick seemed to agree with his plans, if the few tentative kisses that followed were any indication. They soon turned passionate, and it looked as if they would get what they wanted after all, when Daryl moaned loudly. The sound was like a red rag for the owl, and the thing started to trash and flop around under the box, wings hitting the sides with loud thuds, making Rick break the hungry kiss they shared.

“ _For god’s sake_ ” Daryl growled, irritated, and tumbled out of bed, tearing away the box and grabbing the owl. He walked the length of the cell in three rushed steps, butt naked, and threw the owl outside, sliding the privacy curtain back in place after she was gone. He turned back to Rick who had been gaping at him.

“D’ya just threw her?” Rick asked, a shocked expression on his face. Daryl shrugged.  
“She learned how to fly a long time ago, she’ll be fine…” he went back to Rick slowly, almost predatorily, eyeing him up like a starved man would his first dinner in months.  
  
“Now, where were we?”

 

__________

 

It was almost morning when Rick woke up the next day, his whole body aching pleasantly. He hummed softly and burrowed himself deeper in their blanket, Daryl’s fingers brushing through his hair just behind his ear. He felt himself more awake with every gentle scratch of those fingers over the sensitive skin, and he hummed again, content to just go back to sleep. Jesus, Daryl had sharp nails…

_Wait a fucking minute._

Rick whipped his head around so fast he almost gave himself a whiplash. His eyes settled on a pair of yellow ones, settled in a ball of feathers that was sitting next to Daryl’s head. Rick backed away as far as the narrow cot would allow him, blinking at the bird as it just sat there, for once not glaring at him with hellfire burning in its big eyes.  
“Uhm… Daryl?” Rick whispered, hoping to wake him up, eyes never leaving the owl. But Daryl just huffed and turned on his other side, wrapping himself in the blanket and tugging it off of Rick in the process.

The sheriff shivered, feeling the cold creeping all over his skin. He tentatively reached out for the corner of the fluffy fabric when the owl moved, taking a few unsure steps in his direction. Rick froze, eyeing it warily, but it didn’t screech or try to bite him, it just got closer to him. Rick tried not to squeak and jump when in a few unhurried steps, Lady settled in next to his shoulder and plopped down, fluffing her feathers and closing her eyes.

The damned bird from hell wanted to _cuddle_?

Rick almost laughed at that, but he let his arm fall down without reaching the blanket. He looked down at the creature and tentatively reached out with a finger, moving it gently over the feathers. Lady just opened one eye, looking at him for a brief second, before she closed it again and let herself be touched, much to Rick’s amazement.  
“Ya know?” He whispered to the owl, “we really need to work out sleepin’ arrangements, lil girl…”

  
“Yea, I want a cuddle, too” came Daryl’s sleepy voice and Rick couldn’t help a laugh escaping when a moment later, Daryl rolled back to him and wrapped him up in a warm hug.

 


End file.
